Auction Commission: No Turning Back

A little something about who I am as an artist and what has affected my attitudes about my art.

When I was 10 years old, my father had me apprenticed to a Master glassblower, William Burke, who (allegedly) taught renown glass artist Milon Townsend of New York City. I learned how to manipulate glass using the torch technique, with solid Pyrex rods and hollow tubing. By the age of 12, I had my first craft show in a cow field under a tent. My dad built me a demonstration table out of old pallets from a neighboring field. By the age of 14, I was sick and tired of mass production. I just wanted to be an artist. Only to create. Not to produce, and reproduce.

Because of that, I have only created artwork to please myself. If I love it, I keep it. If I hate it, nobody will ever see it. If I like it, I tend to give it away. I have never really sold anything since my glassblowing days. Not that I haven't had offers, but the price was never high enough to relinquish.

The Tipperary batik is, technically, my first "commission." Not that I am being paid, mind you, but rather I am doing it for someone other than myself, and very proudly for the benefit of Global Sighthound Rescue. It's hard. If I don't like it, I just can't throw it into the pile of my rejects, and, if I love it, I DO have to let it go. Keep in mind, I only taught myself to batik almost 2 years ago, and I have so much more yet to learn.

This batik will be the first one in which I have done the background first, and the first batik in which I will be doing a double dye bath. The problem with doing the background first is that you have to keep in mind that the background should not overwhelm the foreground. And yet I challenged myself by choosing to draw a busy blanket upon which to put the subject, a black greyhound, surrounded by detailed and colorful chocolate wrappers. The batik is at risk of losing a strong focus on its subject, with the busyness and color of the background acting as major distractors.

Whomever determined that problem solving occurs during R.E.M. sleep is a genius! I find myself waking during the early hours in the morning with Eureka! moments on how to approach my batik conundrums.

The dark subject and the colorful chocolate wrappers means I have to have a relatively neutral background. But I don't have to sacrifice the retro pattern of the blanket. I have to de-emphasize it. One of the main elements of my batiks is the "comic-bookish" dark outlines. For the background, I am going to forgo that element.

This is also the first time that I actually have to have a recipe for exact colors. That means I have to do intensive color studies while noting down the formula in order to recreate the color on a larger scale. To actually measure my dye concentrations, I had to create a miniscule measuring device. I used Sculpey and a golf tee to create it. Again, LOVE those Eureka! moments!

I started with a soft wash on the blanket to eliminate any distracting white highlights. I free-painted (painted with no wax resist) the retro pattern with my chosen color palette. Next, I waxed out everything that will will NOT be the warm, mid-tone brown of the blanket that will be accomplished using the first of two dye baths.

Tomorrow will reveal the results of my choices. There is no turning back now!!

Currently, I am visiting my twin sister in Colorado for a month. (I am from New York state) She has graciously taken time off from work to teach me stained glass, and for me to teach her batik. I sketched the following image for her to start with, and tomorrow, we begin batik in earnest!

**SIGH** Sadly, I love this sketch too!!

Auction Commission: Introducing Tipperary

In April of 2012, Global Sighthound Rescue ran an artist auction offering the services of seven artists to create a "portrait" of each winner's pet. The mediums used by each artist varied greatly: linocut print, ceramic sculpture, paper mache, soft sculpture, graphite portrait, painted ceramic pottery, and myself... batik.

The winner of my auction is Susan who has owned many dogs, from many different breeds, as well as cats. Obviously a woman with a lot of love in her heart to share with so many. The process of choosing WHICH pet to feature in the batik caused Susan much uncertainty.

Initially, Susan told me she had a greyhound who is a trancer. Trancing... what the heck is that!! To my surprise, some greys seem to go into a trance when they brush their back against low hanging branches or bushes. They may actually stand motionless for several minutes with their eyes glazed over as they seem to be feeling the touch of the branches.

In reference to this behavior, Susan asked me if I could do a sketch of her three greyhounds peering out of a liliac bush. I began with a simple sketch and found, though I loved the idea of using brilliant colors, that the dog's beautiful face was getting lost in the busyness of the liliacs. To add two more greyhounds to this didn't seem like an option.

After looking through many pictures, we finally agreed that Tipperary would be the subject of the batik. Susan comments about her heart dog, "Much as I love the others, he (Tipperary) was and always will be Mommy's favorite."

To create the perfect composition that shows the pet's personality in addition to his visage, I had to find out more about who Tipperary was.

Tipperary was Susan's first greyhound
whom passed away in 2005 at age 11.

Tipperary was a lovely black male greyhound with gorgeous, engaging eyes. Susan wrote me "He was not a needy or demanding dog, but he always made it clear that I was very important to him. He watched me wherever I went, but did not have to follow me everywhere. It's probably why I liked his eyes so much." THAT statement gave me my focus!

Despite the fact that Tipperary was afraid of thunderstorms, fireworks, balloons, and black plastic bags, he was better known for being a precocious scamp.

Susan wrote, "He did seem to have a taste for the written word. He ate many newspapers and books through the years. He also was a manic chocoholic. When we visited my parents, he found and ate selectively from her chocolate stash in the bedroom. She learned to hide her chocolate better whenever he came to visit." THOSE statements gave me my composition.

Since then, I have found the reference materials I need to convey my idea, sketched out an image (that I love and whose subsequent batik I will sadly not be able to keep), done a color study, transferred the image onto the fabric ( I choose a lovely French cotton with Snails embedded in it), and I am now at the beginning stages of waxing.

Tipperary has such fine white lines in his black face that I decided to try using my Ukranian Easter Egg tjanting tool, which I have never used before in a batik (see white areas in the closeup image around the eye). It was working fabuously until I realized that these lines would have to be redone during each subsequent wax removal and reapplication. It was best if I had started with the background.

Traditionally in my work process, I always underplan and wait to see how the subject of the batik turns out before I decide what kind of background "speaks" to me and what colors are appropriate. Now I am forced to work in reverse. I decided that a retro pattern seemed to suit the theme of this batik, Tipperary's avid chocoholicism.

Given many of these factors, I have entitled this batik "Chocolate, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails... That's what Tipperary is Made Of"

Lesson 4: Understanding Chemicals

The chemicals of batik have been the hardest to understand, and for the painterly batiks that my group are doing, I have had to make a great many errors to discover perfect solutions to uncommon situations. If there is any lesson you should read about, this is the most important one.

The most important chemical in the batik process is soda ash, a fixative that bonds the dye to the fiber. Dye must be 'fixed' (made permanent) with Soda Ash on cotton and other cellulose fibers. It's a mild alkali that enables the reaction between the dye and the cellulose fibers at lower temperatures, causing them to “become one.” How much you use is normally a function of the amount of water, not the amount of fabric or dye.

I have ready many books on batik, and every one of them has instructed presoaking your fabric in a mixture of soda ash and water and then letting it dry completely dry before sketching your image. When the dye is painted on, it reacts with the Soda Ash in the fabric.
 
This technique is fine if you are creating simple "blocky" images or stamps of traditional batik that don't require intensive painting, but I have found that the more detailed painting I do leaves a stain caused by diffusion. The wet areas of dye seem to push the sodium of the soda ash to the border and leave and unsightly stain. Stay tuned and you will learn a very important simple trick.

BASE SOLUTION: Cold Batch Chemical Water

Hand painting on fabric requires a thickened solution that slows bleeding, allowing you greater control of color placement and blending. First, you need to create the base solution for the other chemicals that will be added later. Cold batch chemical water is the base for mixing dyes for the purpose of handpainting and can be stored in a refrigerator for up to a month. It basically contains water and Urea. Urea extends the drying time of the fabric so that the dye has time to bond with the fibers, generally 6 hours for pastels or silk OR 12-24 hours for deeper shades and brighter colors

Cold Batch Chemical Water Recipe:

Mix together ¾ cup Urea (dissolve in a little hot water if necessary) with 1 quart water. (NOTE: In this image, I am only making a quarter batch because that is all I need during my month long sojourn with my twin sister in Colorado.)

THICKENING SOLUTION: Sodium Alginate

Before handpainting, the chemical water needs to be thickened. The thicker the solution, the less it will bleed along the fabric fibers, allowing you to control the flow and actually paint or print onto the fabric.

Thickener is generally made from sodium alginate, which is cheaper but requires mixing in a blender, some time to thicken, and has a yellowish cast that may skew color perception slightly (from what you see when wet to what you see when dry). I used to buy a pre-made clear mixture called Superclear from Dharma Trading Company, but supply shortages on alge has made this difficult to get in the United States. If this is a concern, you can buy a higher grade food alginate used in molecular gastronomy at Amazon.

Sodium Alginate Recipe:

In a blender, combine 1 cup chemical water and 2 Tablespoons sodium alginate powder. Mix at low speed for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight until thickened. Store in the refrigerator. If you want a thicker solution (especially for screen printing), add more sodium alginate.

SODA ASH: ***The BIG Secret***

After my initial failure with staining caused by diffusion, I decided to try adding in a little bit of soda ash when I mixed the dyes and thickened solution together. That was a failure. It was difficult to control the ratio of liquid to soda ash to get the correct reaction with the fiber.

Sadly, I do my best thinking when I am asleep (and might benefit from sleeping a bit more often). In a moment of inspiration, I jumped out of bed in a EUREKA moment. The soda ash reacts with the dyes!!!! The solution is to add the soda ash to the thickened solution where it remains inactive at the proper concentration until the dye is combined with it.

Soda Ash Recipe:

Roughly ½ teaspoon soda ash per ½ cup of thickened chemical water is needed. If you don't use enough, the dye won't yield full strength.

When mixed with the dyes, the soda ash fixer activates and has a limited shelf life of 3-5 hours before it becomes half as effective. Blacks exhaust even faster. Only small quantities of dye solutions are needed for painting.

Add a squirt of thickened chemical water (or however much you will need for your image) into a mixing cup. Dip the tip of a paintbrush into the powdered dye and mix a small quantity of it into the thickened chemical water. Test out the color on a scrap piece of cloth or paper towel. Try to go a shade or two darker than you want for your finished result. Use slightly more for blacks, bright reds, and bright blues. Smaller dye to water ratio yields pastel hues.

MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICALS:
Calsolene oil is used in the final deep water dye bath to break the surface tension of the water and allow the dye to dissolve better.

Synthrapol is a wetting agent that helps wool fibers to open up to absorb water for the acid dye process. However, for cold water batik Synthrapol is used as a soap to encapsulate loose dye particles and prevent accidental dye spots when washing your batik before boiling the wax out.

The next lesson I will present will be about different techniques in painting with thickened dyes.

Through the Stages 5: Finished at Last!

Well, this particular batik went through many more "Ugly" stages than I anticipated, but it is finished at last. I am not thrilled by my results, not enough to justify the enormous expense of framing it just so I can validate my reasons for keeping it. After all, everything looks better framed.

I think it is about time that I consider an online store or maybe selling it on Etsy. I have maybe six or seven batiks that I am willing to sell for the right price.

It is always hard to let my artwork go. If I love it, I will not part with it. If I hate it, I certainly don't want anyone else to see it. If I am ambivalent about it, I cannot charge anyone for it, so I give it away. If I want to make my art a "business", I need to toughen up about my insecurities.

Years ago I bought a lovely oil painting of Chinese war horse from an artist online. Weeks later she blogged that she regretted selling that painting, but every day I cherish that same painting.

This experience teaches me that I need to adjust my perspectives on my art. It may sound obnoxious to say that I am being selfish about hiding my artwork away when others can appreciate it and love it and value it so much more. It is time for me to grow up and get "out there."

My next "Through the Stages" blog will be about the winner of the Global Sighthound Rescue Artist Portrait Auction's winner and the process of the personalized batik as it goes through its stages.

Lesson 3: As Mr. Miyagi Says, "Wax On"

About Batik Waxes:

There are many different types of wax, each with their own pluses and minuses. My favorite by far is natural, high quality (strained) beeswax. I bought several pounds of inferior beeswax at a garage sale once, and while it works, it has a much coarser, stiffer structure that seems determined to cling to the fabric despite numerous removal attempts. Beeswax has a lower melting temperature than some types of waxes. One of the very beautiful characteristics of batik though is the lines of crackle that appear after the final dye bath. Beeswax is a very soft wax, and by itself, will only produce very fine lines of crackle or even none at all.

A premixed Batik wax can be purchased online and sometimes locally in an art or craft store. This mixture is a combination of beeswax and paraffin. Paraffin has a higher melting point and is more brittle when cool. The more paraffin used, the more the wax will crackle, giving you that "batik" look.

Soy wax... I wouldn't bother unless you are vegan. Much like beeswax, it has a low melting temperature. However, it is not a very hardy wax and can weaken or melt out if washed in warm water.

The wax mixture should be melted in an electric wax pot or crockpot with a HIGH setting. (220°F-240°F) (CAREFUL! If you overheat the wax, it can burst into flames!) Work with hot wax in a well-ventilated area (it gives off fumes), and never leave hot wax unattended!! In case of emergency, you can douse the flames with baking soda, NOT water.

Sketch your image onto the fabric using a pencil.

Stretch the fabric on a Frame or Hoop. This will keep the fabric taught, raised off of your work surface and away from any contaminants or spreading of dyes as you paint.

Applying Wax:

A Tjanting (canting) tool is a Japanese instrument for applying hot wax to fabric, consisting of a small thin copper (or metal) reservoir with one or more capillary spouts, and a handle of reed or bamboo.

Let the metal end of the tjanting sit in the wax pot to warm up to the same temperature as the wax. This prevents the wax from cooling too quickly in the reservoir and allows for a more continuous, clean line.

Use a folded paper towel under the tjanting when transferring it from the wax pot to the fabric. This prevents stray drips of wax from falling on your work. Once wax is on the fabric, it is very difficult to remove without starting all over again. Don’t worry. Sometimes these accidents become a happy part of the design or can be later fixed with magic markers or overdying.

Practice using your tjanting on a scrap piece of fabric to get a feel for it before beginning your batik.

Use the Tjanting tool to apply lines of melted wax to any areas that are to stay white or to stay a specific color that has already been applied to the fabric.

You can also use natural fiber brushes to fill in the larger areas. The brush needs to be reheated in wax much more frequently because it does not have the ability to retain heat that the tjanting does.

In Indonesia, wax designs are repeatedly stamped onto the fabric with intricate metal stamps made of copper called Tjaps or Caps (pronounced "chops"). I tried using mine for the first time last night and have realized that I have a lot to learn. I probably need to use it outdoors where I can shake off the excess wax better before applying it to the fabric. As you can see, my results were blotchy, hinting that I had too much wax and too hot of a tjap.

When applying wax, no matter what method you are using, regulate the temperature so that it penetrates the fabric, not so cool that it just turns yellowish and sits on top, and not so hot that the wax drips quickly from the tjanting or all your drawn lines spread out too much. The wax should have a clear appearance, indicating it has penetrated to the other side. Flip fabric over and apply wax anywhere it has not penetrated.

In lesson 4, I will discuss chemicals and provide you the recipes needed to start dying.

Lesson 2: Tools of the Trade

You may have read a book about batik that tells you about the Indian Javanese tjap (cap) and the tjanting (canting). Truly the most important tools of batik, but not by far the only ones for the painterly batiks my group has been doing. While we have only been using these tools thus far, some of us are beginning to experiment with new tools and techniques. But first, the basics.

Tjantings (A-C) are pen-like tools that have metal reservoirs, whose job is to hold and keep the melted wax hot. The wax flows through a tiny spout, some straight (A & C) and some curved (B). The wax flow depends on the angle you hold it and the shape and the size of the spout.

Tjanting A is an inexpensive commercial wax pen with a straight spout. The problem with this one is that the straight spout releases the wax too quickly with little control. I've tried flattening the spout with pliers to some benefit, but though it is usable, it is not one I recommend.

Tjantings B have copper reservoirs that retain the heat longer than other metals and curved spouts that allow for greater control of the wax flow. Spout size is measured in millimeters. The size our group uses most often is 1 to 1.5 millimeters and maybe 2 millimeters to fill in larger areas. These tjantings were purchased from Dharma Trading Company, a company who offers a large variety of high quality batik supplies.

Tjanting C is actually used for the process of waxing Ukrainian Easter eggs. While the wax cools very quickly compared to the others, the diameter of the spout is extremely tiny and produces very fine hairs of wax.

Tool D is a tjap, a copper stamp commonly used in the production of repeated patterns in Indian saris. Tjaps usually come in a negative and a positive form, one stamped on the front and the other stamped on the reverse of the fabric to reinforce the resist. Tjaps tend to be expensive and difficult to find as many of them are antiques. Although this tjap is old, it is new to me and as yet, still unused. It is too large for my wax pots, which means I will have to invest in a flat heated skillet.

Natural hair brushes (not synthetic, which melt) are used to fill in large areas of wax resist (while hot) or to add texture (while cooling). The brush does not keep the wax hot for long, so as it cools, the stroke of the brush becomes more apparent. It needs to be heated more frequently than the tjantings. One brush technique I hope to try soon is using the thicker brush shown and striking it against a hard object to create a spatter effect. Totally Jackson Pollack. You can even make forms from sticky frisket to block out shapes and let the spatter define the shape.

Brushes of various sizes are also important for the application of thickened dyes, either in large blocks of color or very painterly like Grasshopper Dana's truly realistic heart! Fantastically ghoulish!

Tools F through H are "freelance" tools, household metal items that retain the heat and create different effects. The pot scrubby (F) can be used for fur, the eye dropper (G) for rough pointillism, and cookie cutters (H) for whimsy.

I've have even carved stamps out of potatoes (which eventually cook) for the background of the Halby Hives logo to the left and floral foam, which is easy to carve but eventually breaks down. There are no limits to the tools you can use. Some work. Some fail. But all of them are a fun process of learning through trial and error.

I've tried many different wax pots with much frustration. Problems with consistency of temperature always seems to be the predominant issue. You do not want to experience change in wax flow when you are deep into a batik. The small wax tray to the left was sufficient for myself alone (another Dharma purchase), but I found that it had to be placed on the highest heat setting. Even better is a simple crock pot, 1 quart is best or 2 to 3 quarts for the many hands reaching into the same pot during batik Fridays.

Lastly is the all important frame that stretches the fabric taut and suspends the fabric above your work surface, preventing dye contamination or bleeding wax. I have used anything and everything for a frame, including paper boxes and egg cartons.

My first major frame purchase was Frame 1, a wooden frame with slots that made it adjustable to your fabric size. While good in theory, the frame agonizingly fell to pieces with consistent regularity.

A better option is to purchase different size stretcher bars for canvases. These can be assembled and disassembled to fit your project. The major problem with wood though is that it soaks up the dye and is a risk of contamination to your fabric.

Plastic options are available in Frames 3 & 4, though Frame 3 severely limits the size and shape of your batik. My favorite frame by far is Frame 4, purchased from ProChemical & Dye. The plastic frame is adjustable and has sharp claws that snag and hold the fabric. The only down side is its large, cumbersome size that dominates our Friday night table space.

Don't feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the quantity of tools. Simply start with a tjanting, a crockpot, and a box. That is all you need. The rest will come along when your skills and confidence emerge. Batik is only a game that you win with practice.

Through the Stages 4: Art of the Grasshoppers

Since I cannot really call the friends who join me for batik every Friday night students anymore, it seemed natural to start calling them Grasshoppers. I was reminded last night where that particular reference came from, and remembering brought me great joy in recalling how much I enjoyed watching David Carradine in Kung Fu. Now I am sure I will have to go check for it on Netflix.

I am proud of my Grasshoppers. They have become so self-sufficient that I rarely have to look over their shoulders anymore. In fact, sometimes I have to prompt them by asking "Where do you think you might be going next with this?" When someone new joins the group, I sometimes forget that I need to explain anything at all.

I want to share with you some of the work of a few of my Grasshoppers. These batiks are the ones they are currently working on and at different stages of the process. The most recent addition to our group is Rita whose tree frog has come a long way without much advice from me, and, unbelievably, she has accomplished this much in only two nights. Every beginner has the inevitable accidental blobs of wax on the fabric before they gain confidence from their practice with the tjanting tool.

The Grasshopper who has been with me the longest is Dianne B. She has even gone so far as to take a "Fundamentals of Dying" class with me at Pro Chemical & Dye, and along the way has learned as much from my mistakes as I have from hers. (Like, who knew bleach could go bad?? Not me!) Dianne has been working on these gorgeous zebras and is now agonizing on the finer details of shading and contrast.

Grasshopper Mary is working on her third duck image, a Merganser. She has sworn that she is moving on from ducks after this, only to find out she has been researching more ducks. Mary has gotten horribly hooked on batik and is already planning out her own studio, building a light table, and acquiring her own supplies. LOVE it when that happens!

Grasshopper Tamara shows no fear. Her very first batik was an ambitiously jaunty image of Walt Whitman, and despite some major disasters, she played around and experimented with different processes until it became as beautiful as Walt's poetry. This is still by far one of my favorite batiks of my Grasshoppers. Currently she is finishing up an image of Sally from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. The picture shown has just come from the final dye bath and still contains the wax resist.

Another ambitious first project was completed by Gail, a vivacious Grasshopper with tons of spirit and adventure. Sadly last year, she lost all three of her greyhounds to illnesses, so it seems fitting that her first project was of her greyhounds. Beautiful use of color, texture, contrast, and composition. Her next project is going to be a scarf, but I am eager for her to begin the image of her cat's face. The detail in that image has encouraged me to seek out new methods of applying the wax to the fabric to get different textures and detail. You will see some of those in my next blog about the tools of batik.

Last, but not least (sorry Dana, Mom, and Lynn), is Grasshopper Diane H. whose husband is keeping us "well rounded" with his wonderful desserts. Diane has started working on a Mexican Oaxacan bull after just finishing a fabulous Oaxacan Eagle. This image is going to challenge her with the magnitude of its fine detail, but I know she is up to it. As the abilities of my Grasshoppers mature, they brave greater complexity in their image choices.

I am almost finished painting my batik. I have a few areas I want to redye in order to assure the vibrancy remains after I wash out the dye and boil out the wax. The next stage is to rewax the areas I want to protect from the final dye bath and leaving the hard outlines seen in my inspiration image. Before I move onto the dye bath though, I have to address what I am going to do for the background. I know I want it to be dark so that the other colors POP, but I am still struggling with how much detail, the technique, and the colors. I will have it all figured out by next Friday, I am sure, after many sleepless nights. At least it is almost out of its "Ugly Phase." Stay tuned.